✧ Chapter 4 ✧
But I decided not to ask any more questions. I already had a mountain of work to do that morning.
I put the bedsheet and the shirt Luka had worn into the wash tub in the front yard and stepped on them with my feet.
Meanwhile, the mattress walked by itself into the stream. The quiet forest echoed with the sound of the broom handle smacking the mattress as it happily took a bath.
Luka peeked at me from behind the cottage door.
Every time I looked away, he took one small step toward me.
But whenever our eyes met, he quickly pretended he hadn’t been coming over at all and started pulling weeds from the ground.
He’s like a scared little rabbit. So cute.
At last, Luka gathered enough courage to come beside the wash tub. Even then, he sucked his thumb for a long time before quietly asking,
“Are… are you still mad?”
“Are you gonna eat me?”
Oh dear. He still thought I was going to eat him.
“Can you pull out those white flowers in the yard for me? They’re weeds. If you pull out ten of them, I won’t eat you.”
Luka looked around the yard where I pointed, then looked back up at me.
His bright blue eyes sparkled as he stared at me.
…Am I really a man-eating witch?
Because at that moment…
I really wanted to gently bite those chubby cheeks.
“Really?”
“Yes, really.”
Still not fully convinced, Luka slowly held out his little finger.
“Pwomise?”
“Yes. I promise.”
Only after we hooked our little fingers together did he finally relax.
He crouched beside the wash tub and carefully began pulling out the weeds.
By the time I finished hanging up the laundry, Luka tugged on my skirt.
“How many is ten?”
“Wow. You picked a lot.”
He still couldn’t count yet.
There were about thirteen flowers in his little fist.
“Flowers are counted one by one. Watch carefully.”
“One flower… two flowers… three flowers…”
I counted them one by one while teaching him how to count.
“Now you won’t eat me anymore, right?”
“That’s right. Thank you.”
“What about Noona?”
“I won’t eat your noona either.”
“Yay.”
Only after getting my promise that I wouldn’t eat his sister did Luka smile brightly and hop back into the cottage.
While the sheets and mattress dried under the warm morning sun, I made clothes for the children.
I cut up some of my old clothes and extra fabric to fit their small bodies.
Actually, I only did the measuring and designing.
The enchanted needle did all the sewing by itself.
When the clothes were finished, they looked too plain.
Children should wear cute clothes.
So I cut ribbons from my hair, colorful tablecloths, and lace from the curtains, then used them to decorate the clothes.
“They fit perfectly. What a relief.”
Seeing the children wearing clothes I had made myself filled me with pride.
Though…
Maybe they were a little too fancy for walking through the forest to gather mushrooms.
I took the children deep into the forest.
Luka, who had made a deal with me using a few wildflowers, followed me happily without any doubt.
But Luna still watched me with cautious eyes.
“Where are we going?”
“To pick mushrooms.”
“And to gather chestnuts.”
At this time of year, both mushrooms and chestnuts were at their best.
“You’re not going to sell us…”
“Or offer us as a sacrifice?”
How did a seven-year-old even know the word sacrifice?
Then again…
If she weren’t this clever, she never could have survived in the forest while taking care of her little brother.
Still…
Sometimes she was almost too clever.
“That cat is strange.”
She was talking about Daisy, who walked through the forest with her tail swaying happily and occasionally stopped to mark trees.
“She acts just like a dog.”
“…Cats like that are called… cat-dogs.”
Luna was far too sharp.
Cold sweat ran down my back.
Changing souls was forbidden black magic.
If anyone found out that the souls of my cat and dog had been switched…
They might think I had used black magic.
And I could be executed.
[Daisy… please act like a cat.]
I didn’t want to die over something that wasn’t even my fault.
[Squirrel! Squirrel! It’s a squirrel!]
But Daisy was completely distracted by a squirrel climbing a tree and ignored me.
Honestly…
I sighed.
The “cat” was scratching the tree and meowing loudly instead of barking.
I quickly picked her up and held her in my arms.
“Come this way.”
Mushrooms always grew in damp, shady places.
We left the path and walked into a part of the forest covered with thick grass and moss.
Luna stayed about two steps behind me, tightly holding Luka’s hand as if she was ready to run away at any moment.
After walking about ten steps, we found a large patch of beautiful mushrooms growing among the fallen leaves.
As I happily cut the mushrooms and placed them into my basket, Luna watched me suspiciously.
“Mushrooms grow like this?”
“Then where did you think they grew?”
“I thought they grew on trees… like apples.”
She had never picked mushrooms before?
What kind of parents never even taught their children something like this?
In this world, gathering wild plants and farming were the main ways people survived.
Every child learned these things from a young age.
So I taught them while picking mushrooms.
“This one is called a bolete.”
I held up a mushroom that looked similar to a pine mushroom.
It had a thick brown cap and a plump cream-colored stem.
It smelled wonderful and tasted delicious.
It wasn’t as expensive as truffles, but it was still one of the most valuable mushrooms people here loved.
Of course…
None of this was knowledge I had from living in Seoul.
It all came from the evil witch who originally owned this body.
Although I hadn’t inherited her memories, I had gained this world’s knowledge…
Along with her magic.
Still…
For some reason, my magic wasn’t as strong as hers had been.
“Do you understand now?”
“Yes.”
“Good.”
The children began searching under the trees for the mushrooms I had shown them.
“Don’t go too far.”
I continued picking mushrooms.
Then…
The rustling sound of leaves suddenly stopped.
“This one’s pretty!”
Luna shouted.
“Wow!”
“It looks like a stwawberry.”
“Do you think it’ll taste like one?”
A strawberry?
But it wasn’t strawberry season.
I quickly turned around—
And froze.
The mushroom in their hands had a bright red cap.
That’s a fly agaric!
It looked exactly like the famous red poisonous mushroom from that game where a plumber rescues a princess instead of a hero.
It caused hallucinations.
And for small children…
It could even be deadly.
The children thought it was a strawberry.
They opened their mouths wide, about to take a bite.
“No! Don’t eat that!”
I shouted so loudly that my voice echoed through the entire forest as I ran toward them.
Seeing me charge at them like a bull, both children flinched.
The mushroom slipped from their hands and fell to the ground.
Thank goodness…
Unfortunately…
The children became frightened of me and started crying.
Even brave Luna buried her face and sobbed.
“N-No…”
“I’m not angry…”
It felt like I had done something terrible even though I had saved them.
Awkwardly, I patted their little heads.
“That mushroom is poisonous.”
“If you eat it, you’ll get hurt.”
“So never pick up and eat anything in the forest unless I say it’s okay.”
“Understand?”
I thought Luna had survived because she was smart.
But she didn’t know things like this at all.
How had they managed to survive in the forest until now?
“Come on.”
“Let’s go gather chestnuts.”
Trying to cheer them up, I led them to a grove of chestnut trees.
“This…”
“This is a chestnut?”
Luna stared at the prickly chestnut burr lying on the ground.
She had thought chestnuts naturally looked smooth and round.
“You’ve really never seen a chestnut burr before?”
The children crouched down and stared at its sharp spikes with amazed eyes before nodding.
“We almost never came into the forest.”
“That’s wight.”
“We were always locked inside the house.”
“…What?”
My mind went blank.
I could almost picture them trapped inside a dark basement that smelled of mold, where not even a single ray of sunlight reached.
These children were smart.
They spoke well.
They even had good table manners.
Yet they had never experienced things every child between five and seven years old should know.
They knew almost nothing about the outside world.
So…
They had grown up locked away.
This is abuse.
Even if their father comes looking for them…
I should never send them back.
